Black Majesty - Tomorrowland 4/5
Reviewed: 7-13-07
Tracklist:
1. Forever damned
2. Into the black
3. Evil in your eyes
4. Tomorrowland
5. Soldier of fortune
6. Bleeding world
7. Faces of war
8. Wings to fly
9. Another dawn
10. Scars
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Australia’s own Black Majesty have returned to give us another dose of melodic power metal, with their latest CD entitled ‘Tomorrowland’. Black Majesty would be clearly one of Australia’s top 5 metal acts, and they are quickly becoming more and more known outside of Australia, especially in Europe. In fact, Black Majesty have become one of the best sellers with their German label, Limb Music. Limb boasts other top metal bands such as Burning Point, Cryonic Temple, Human Fortress, Mob Rules and Rhapsody. Black Majesty are working very hard in Europe and they are inked to perform this year in festivals such as the Wacken Open Air Festival, the Masters of Rock Festival and the Slovak Metal Universe Festival. Black Majesty have also opened for some of the better power metal bands going around, including Dragonforce, Hammerfall and Edguy.
‘Tomorrowland’ is Black Majesty’s 3rd CD, following on from their previous CD, ‘Silent company’ and the debut ‘Sands of time’. Both their first and 2nd releases received lots of praise from the metal world, so how will ‘Tomorrowland’ stack up against those 2? Well, the first thing I noticed about ‘Tomorrowland’ was that it is much faster and more complex (e.g. arrangement, more key changes) then it’s predecessors. Secondly, the guitar work and the drumming has been finely tuned and improved. ‘Tomorrowland’ contains some fantastic guitar solos that are complex, meaningful and just off the charts; while the drumming really impressed me too. And if you like songs with pummelling double bass, then this is the CD for you. Compared to their other CDs, in short, ‘Tomorrowland’ is a good mix of their previous releases.
Where I find some faults though, is with the vocal delivery. Now don’t get me wrong, I really like John Cavaliere’s vocals; they are unique and he is a top-notch vocalist. If I could find a weakness, however, it would be with the fastest songs on the CD. I feel that his vocals aren’t delivered as strongly as they are on the lesser speedy tracks. Whether it has something to do with the production or not, I feel that his vocals are kind of lost within the music and the pitch is a little off. As for the more mid-to-fast paced melodic tracks, John really stands out and delivers perfectly.
As for the tracks on the CD, they are all very solid. Even though I couldn’t really find any “killer” standout songs, that isn’t a bad thing. All the songs on the CD are consistent and enjoyable, with no weak tracks at all. If I had to choose the better of the solid tracks, my 3 favourite tracks would be the more melodic and catchy ones on the CD. They include “Bleeding world”, “Another dawn” and “Scars”. While I myself enjoyed those 3 tracks the most, other listeners would also like “Forever damned”, “Evil in your eyes” and the title track “Tomorrowland”. There is another nice track which would be referred to as the ballad on the CD, and that is the cover of the Deep Purple song “Soldier of fortune”.
All fans of Black Majesty should thoroughly enjoy this release, as it is just as good as their previous CDs. And fans of melodic power metal should also give ‘Tomorrowland’ a good listen as it contains everything you look for in a great melodic power metal CD; catchy songs, awesome guitar solos and soaring melodic vocals.
Black Majesty, once again you have done Australia and Australian metal proud, now go out there and get ‘em. Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oi, Oi, Oi!
SEAN
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